I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 481: Crime of huge amount of property with unknown source

Mara glanced at the Crown Prince's expression, then glanced at the investigation report in his hand, and immediately said:
"Your Highness, please give me some time. If they really did embezzle, I will definitely find out!"

Joseph's brows still did not relax when he heard this.

He believed that with Marat's persistent spirit, he would be able to find out the evidence of those officials sooner or later - he even found evidence of corruption against the Governor of Poitou - but it would still take too long.

If the officials who dare to oppose the abolition of the tax farmer system cannot be deterred in the shortest possible time, more people will follow suit and accept money to join the ranks of those who sing against them.

After all, no matter how "collapsed" the postal system is, the chaos will only last for a month at most, so it is necessary to cut the Gordian knot and convict all these 40-plus people.

For a moment, Joseph even thought of asking the Intelligence Agency to fabricate evidence against these people.

However, he immediately rejected this idea. Once this precedent was set, it would cause endless harm in the future. Maybe one day the intelligence department would be able to fabricate evidence to pin the crime on the royal family.

It is better to follow the generally accepted political rules to avoid serious side effects.

Joseph subconsciously flipped through the investigation report in his hand, and suddenly noticed that it said that the total assets of an official in a southern province were 5 francs, while his position was only a judicial assistant in the city hall, and his monthly salary should not exceed 60 francs. There was no fiefdom title in his family, and obviously no industry.

In other words, if this guy had no illegal income, he would have to work for 70 years without eating or drinking to save up this fortune.

He took office nine years ago, when Montauban, where he was in office, was still a very poor province.

Joseph turned to the next page.

This is the municipal commissioner of Poitiers, with a fortune of more than 12 francs. He does have a manor, but it only produces about 2500 francs a year. The manor was bought by his father 17 years ago, and it is far from contributing to his huge fortune.

The situations of the dozen or so people who followed were roughly similar. They all had considerable wealth, but they did not have any businesses that could make that much money.

Joseph couldn't help but narrow his eyes. The report contained information that the investigators could find in a short period of time, so the official's actual assets should be more than this number.

A word immediately popped up in his mind - the crime of huge property of unknown origin.

Although it was not realistic to turn this crime into law in the 18th century and the legislative process was too time-consuming, it did not prevent the concept from being used in investigating evidence of officials' crimes.

You know, the Fair Investigation Office has the right to interrogate. And Mara never likes bureaucracy, so as long as he has a handle, he will definitely not be lenient in the interrogation.

Joseph immediately smiled and looked at Mara: "Mr. Mara, have you heard of the crime of 'huge wealth from unknown sources'?"

"what?"

……

The city of Poitiers.

In an office of the Notary Investigation Bureau, Municipal Commissioner Baron Caston glared at the two black-clad investigators in front of him angrily and clenched his fists, saying:

"How dare you summon me without any evidence! I will definitely accuse you to Her Majesty the Queen!"

"Please...please don't be nervous." Desmoulins looked at him calmly. "I...we are just chatting with...with you. As for...as for accusing you, that...that is your right."

The Investigation Bureau has been very busy recently, and as the second-in-command in the bureau, he also has to personally participate in the interrogation work.

He probably felt that his speaking was too inefficient, so he winked at the assistant beside him and stepped aside.

The latter immediately took out a document and said to Baron Caston in a deep voice: "Your family property is more than 12 francs, right?" "What does this have to do with you?!"

Desmoulins' assistant spoke to himself:
"You have previously served as assistant to the financial officer and trade commissioner. Four years ago, you were promoted to municipal commissioner. We have calculated that your total salary over the years is 7820 francs."

Castong said disdainfully: "So what?"

"The total income from your estate since you bought it should be 3 francs. You rented out your property in the east of the city, and the rent over the years has totaled 7 francs. You wrote articles for Life and Salon, and the total royalties are..."

"..."

"Your wife and children have no income. Your wife brought a dowry of 2 francs. Do you think I have missed anything?"

Caston just sneered, seeming too lazy to pay attention to him.

"So your total income since you were born is 5 francs." Desmoulins' assistant read the information mechanically, "and your family's living expenses, including the purchase of the property you live in now, daily food and clothing, club expenses, and... at least 1 francs.

"That is, your assets should be 3 francs. And the property under your name exceeds 3 francs."

He suddenly leaned forward and came close to Custer, with the tip of his nose almost touching the latter's face:
"Then where did the extra 8 francs come from?"

"Extra...extra?" Castong was stunned by the question, because he had never heard of such an interrogation.

He became a little nervous: "It's... the legacy my father left me."

"You are lying! Your inheritance tax amounted to 720 livres, which means that you inherited less than 1 livres."

"Oh, now I remember, it's the dividends I got from investing in my friend's business."

"Okay, what's his name, where does he live, and what's his business?"

"..." Caston couldn't come up with anything to make up, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "So what if I have money? Those were all given to me by my friends who admire me!"

Desmoulin on the side suddenly smiled: "Who gave you the money?"

"none of your business!"

"Of course it's my business," cried Desmoulins. "Giving money to an official for no reason, that's a bribe!"

Caston was interrogated for two days and two nights. Afterwards, Desmoulins applied to the High Court for an extension of two days. Joseph had already instructed the court through the Royal Supreme Court, so all such applications were quickly approved.

Although Caston was a nobleman, the Jacobin investigators disliked nobles the most, so except for beating him directly, they used various means such as coercion, intimidation and deprivation of sleep.

Finally, on the afternoon of the next day, Caston could no longer hold on and began to confess to the corruption.

In many movies and TV shows, there are scenes where criminals have strong psychological qualities and refuse to admit anything during interrogation. But in reality, most people can't even last half a day in an interrogation room before their psychological defenses collapse.

Especially since Desmoulins kept attacking the issue of "source of property", Caston couldn't fool him.

At the same time, similar situations were happening all over France. Investigators from the Notarial Investigation Bureau reaped great rewards.

(End of this chapter)